Audit reveals overcharging of elderly care residents

The overcharged was sometimes as much as $22k.

An audit has uncovered that residents in elderly care homes under Hong Kong’s Residential Care Service Voucher (RCSV) Scheme have been overcharged by as much as $22.4k per person for consumable items and incidental charges.

The RCSV Scheme, overseen by the Social Welfare Department (SWD), subsidises care for elderly residents through vouchers, allowing them to select services from recognised service providers (RSPs). However, the audit report found cases of providers charging residents for items not listed in their price schedules or at higher prices than stated.

In one case, a resident was billed $2.4k per month for special nutritional drinks not listed on the official price list. In total, four voucher holders were charged $34.22k for unlisted items, whilst six others were overcharged $2.7 for items such as nasal feeding products, which were priced higher than disclosed.

Additionally, two residents receiving care supplement subsidies—meant to cover specific medical items—were improperly charged for these items, resulting in overcharges of $1.15k.

The audit also highlighted lapses in the provision of care, including insufficient quantities of diapers for some residents, despite these being covered under the subsidies. In seven cases, care homes failed to justify why the required six diapers per day were not provided, with records showing some residents received as few as one to three diapers daily.